6.26.14 - On Moving Right Along

2043 today, moving right along. Still need a major day, but it’s coming. I need to use the principals behind the Rachel Aaron's 10K a Day method, map a few things out and just go balls to the wall.

The fun of not outlining is things happen that you don’t expect, but it also means things go slower. Now that I’m over 1/3 of the way home, I can start looking at exactly what needs to happen to make the story sing, both in the earlier pages, and in what’s to come.

Tonight is Literary Libations, where Nashville’s Literati come to have a drink and see each other IRL - in real life. So I need to boogie so I can make it downtown in time. Hope to see some of you there!

One last thing: Jeff Abbott's new book, INSIDE MAN, is releasing Tuesday, and there are several pre-order specials going on. You don't want to miss this awesome thriller!

B&N: http://bit.ly/BNInsideMan
Books-A-Million: http://bit.ly/BAMInsideMan
Indiebound: http://bit.ly/INDInsideMan
Apple: http://bit.ly/AppleInsideMan
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1iDp38k
Google: http://bit.ly/GoogleInsideMan

Go get you some thrilling goodness!

J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

6.25.14 - On Manipulations

Diana Scharf

Okay, I admit it. I am a goal manipulator. 

One of the big boons of Scrivener is being able to set word count goals, both daily and manuscript-wise. At the beginning of each project, I put in my deadline and my anticipated total word count, and it tells me exactly how many words a day I need to write to meet the goal.

Glorious! It saves me all sorts of time messing with spreadsheets and the like. Tracks everything, and at the end of the day, I simply pop the total into my master, annual word tracker spreadsheet and I'm done. 

I normally shoot for an 80,000 word first draft, with the deadline set a month before the book is actually due, to give me enough time to do edits and allow my betas time to read before it's submitted to my editor. I add words when editing, rather than subtracting, so the books usually end up in the 95-100,000 range.

The past few books, though, have been well over 110,000, with THE LOST KEY first draft coming in at a whopping 130,000. So I’m a bit off on my normal calculations.

I’m on an über-tight deadline for WHAT LIES BEHIND, so I initially popped in a projected 100,000 word draft for for a July 15 draft date. My goal was in the 1300 range for the first month. Then, as things weren't working, the daily numbers grew - I needed more and more and more to meet the goal. Which means more pressure, and that's not a good thing.

The closer I get to said draft date, the more I manipulate the numbers. Massage is probably a better term. Writing 5 days a week gives a different daily load than 6, or even 7, which is how a book generally progresses for me. The closer I am to deadline, the more I’m writing - toward the end, the last month, it’s 7 days a week, generally anywhere from 6-10 hours a day, whereas in the beginning, it's a gentler pace, 1000 words a day in 2-3 hours writing time.

As you can see, momentum is everything for me.

Writing to a 90,000 word first draft also changes the daily outcomes, as does a 85,000 draft.

Right now, after several massages, I’m set for an 85,000 word draft, due to myself July 21, writing 7 days a week. If I do 2,000 words a day from now until then, I will finish with a week to edit, and a week to marinate. (Of course, there’s RWA to be planned for - and the 4th of July, spent with family this year. There goes my week to marinate.) 

Still, 2,000 word a day is doable. Especially now that the story seems to be cooperating.

Also, something that's taking a bit of pressure off, my editor is reading as we go, 100 pages at a time, so I’m circumventing the beta read process entirely in order to meet the deadline. Betas will get the book at the same time as my editor, something I've never done.

Confused yet? I’ll say this - planning is a big part of writing. You have to be able to organize yourself, know your limits, understand what you can, and can’t do. I read a superb article last week on why projects take longer than you plan, and it’s well worth a read. I always advise people to double the time they think it will take them to finish a project. 

I’m just thankful I know myself and my habits well enough to be able to manipulate these figures with confidence that I'll make it on time. I hope. 

2419 today - and that's not manipulated. Story is starting to shape up. Can I get a hallelujah?

J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

6.23.14 - On Barbaric Yawps

Friday’s barbaric yawp seemed to terrify my Muse, who got in line and allowed me to find a thread, albeit a small one, and definitely not golden, into the story. Despite some sort of bug-like ickiness over the weekend, I managed a couple of thousand words, adding a new character, a prologue, and a few new scenes. I’m happier now. 

It's always fascinating to me how this works. I hit this wall writing nearly every books, though this time was worse than ever before. The only thing that works is opening up a vein and asking the universe for help. So thank you, everyone who sent good thoughts and vibes, because you helped me find a path. 

Today I started fresh, from the beginning, editing the new stuff, added 800 words and got up to Chapter 14. There’s something resembling a book in here, but it’s going to take a week of truly concerted effort to find it. But I’m at 30K now, and building toward the end of act one, so we’ll see what happens.

Made soup, and did 5.5 miles on the bike. I’m trying very hard to up my cardio, and up my yoga. The more I move, the less stuck I seem to be. All that oxygen going to the right places, I guess.

In other news, I wanted to share this quick clip of Elizabeth Gilbert talking about the intimacy of social media.

It’s true - I’ve experienced the same thing. My Facebook page is a really fun place, for both me and hopefully everyone there. I love Twitter, always have, though I sometimes lurk more than I post. Having direct contact with readers, many of whom have become friends, is the coolest part of this gig.

And in the bittersweet news category - Kyle Mills will take over writing the Mitch Rapp novels for the late Vince Flynn

I think Kyle is an excellent choice. He’s great writer, and will do the character and series justice. We do miss Vince, though. He was one of the good guys. If you haven't read him, I can't recommend him highly enough.

J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

6.20.14 - On Blocked, Or Not Blocked? That is The Question

All right, that’s it. I quit. I am quite literally throwing up my hands. I am ready to toss this entire book. 

Something’s wrong, and I don’t know what it is. I can’t seem to move forward. I don’t dare say it’s block, it’s only been a few days of sheer nothingness, and generally speaking, whenever this has happened in the past, it is a major signal, the universe screaming at me that there’s a problem with my story.

I’m not surprised, to be honest. This book (Sam #4) has been giving me fits from the beginning, when I tried to outline the story and got hopelessly off track. I’ve been trying to pull it all back since, redoing and redoing and rewriting and rewriting, but I’m stuck in the first 16 chapters, and the story will not move forward.

*deep breaths*

*more deep breaths*

I know every book has its own, bizarre, unique cycle. Some of them are easy to write, some are hard. The hard ones are usually the better books, but gee, how, this one. Sheesh. 

For fun, I just went and snuck a look at my Monomythic structure. Apparently I am in the Test, Allies and Enemies stage of writing.

*now feeling lightheaded from all the breathing*

Okay. Clearly it’s time to go back to the beginning and see where I went wrong. Then, maybe, a Manhattan and a notebook, to figure out where I’m headed. 

THIS is why I don’t outline, people. It screws everything up. I know one thing. If this isn't conquered by Monday, it may be time to take drastic measures. I've only had to toss a story once before, and I don't relish the thought. But part of being a writer is recognizing when your story has become untenable.

It's gonna be a FUN weekend! Y'all have a good one.

 

6:37 p.m. - Ahem. A slightly sheepish update. I guess I needed to whine a bit, because in the intervening hour between writing the blog and now, 1100 words came spilling forth, with a brand new character and a new plot line that might actually have legs. So... thanks for letting me vent! Will update on Monday.
/Source

J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

6.19.14 - On An Interview from SOKY Bookfest

I swear I am not as startled as I look in the stills. (Actually, I think that's my Hermione, oh oh oh I know the answer to that question face.) Whilst at the Southern Kentucky Bookfest in April, I was interviewed by the lovely Barbara Deeb of PBS, and we talked about my political background, character building, and co-writing. Give it a listen.

It was a day of editing, plotting, and housework, yoga and a bike ride, reading and very little new writing. 360 net. I spent the afternoon making major adjustments to a plot thread that needs to disappear, which of course was laden throughout the first 100 pages in snips and snaps. I think I have them all out now, so tomorrow I can sally forth again. I may try for a 10K day tomorrow (or at least a 5K) to jump start things. Who's in with me?

J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.